Of course there are limits, but new processes can be invented, it's just history. Electric cars are much more efficient than ICE ones.
First civilian jet engine designs could be efficient up to a point, then they changed designs. Laser uranium enrichment is so much more efficient that USA classified it [1]. Transformers training is more efficient.
And so on...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_isotopes_by_lase...